The imagery shown here depicts both the output and the process taken for the second attempt at tattooing fake skin. The below image shows the marks to be tattooed being ‘free-handed’ by the founder, Bez, using a sharpie marker pen (a frequently used tool for work that is created without a stencil). The process of taping the fake skin described in previous posts was repeated, and the result can be seen in this image.

The symbols and marks drawn onto the fake skin where not chosen for aesthetic purposes, but for difficulty. Shapes such as the form of an ‘s’ and triangles/circles are thought to be difficult to tattoo perfectly. The purpose of inclusion of them on the fake skin was to learn how to approach such shapes and consider how the hand position may change, the positioning of the body while tattooing to adhere to a shape may adjust, and how to perform what looks like a continuous line of consistent depth without actually being executed in a single pass.

Bez creating shapes on fake skin for me to practice on

The image of the cat on the bottom right of the skin was applied using a stencil of a design created by studio artist Stacey Green, and was applied as there was space remaining on the fake skin that hadn’t been utilised. Similar to the previous fake skin practice, the purpose was to gain control of holding the machine and gaining understanding of how to hold a machine, the depth of penetration, and become more comfortable and familiar with tattooing and the procedure.As evident in the image, the pressure applied was too much in particular areas and has caused tears in the surface, however this is also due to the poor quality of the materials and not representative of actual skin. The image below shows the finished result of the exercise, with the fake skin being taken away from the ‘pound of flesh’ to reveal areas that had been accidentally made.

The end product of the second sheet of fake skin

​Adam McDade

Illustrator, Tattoo Apprentice, and PhD Research Student

Beyond the Epidermis

​Adam McDade

A document of my experience working as an apprentice Tattoo Artist at Triplesix Studios, while also serving as a platform for my AHRC NPIF funded research as a PhD student at the University of Sunderland.